Harvest Without Seeds

All the world loves an underdog--except, apparently, the people who run tennis tournaments. Which undoubtedly accounts for the fact that nobody makes book on tennis. For years it has been standard practice at all big U.S. amateur tournaments to "seed" the top eight players. Seeded players collect expense money (up to $28 a day). They are paired against weak opponents in the early rounds, and they never play each other until the quarter-finals at the earliest. The idea is to make sure that the two best players reach the finals (thereby boosting the gate), and it usually works--particularly at Forest Hills.

On the basis of past form, 120 of the 128 men who competed in the National Singles Championships last week did not belong there at all. Not since 1957, when Australia's Mai Anderson upset top-seeded Ashley Cooper, had an unseeded player won the men's singles. Never in the 85-year history of the tournament had two unseeded players reached the finals. But nothing went according to form at Forest Hills.

Excess of Patriotism. The ladies' singles were supposed to produce a grudge match between Wimbledon Champion Billie Jean Moffitt King and Clay Court Champ Nancy Richey, who share the No. 1 ranking among U.S. women. But Billie Jean was eliminated in the second round, and Nancy was slaughtered in the finals by Brazil's Maria Bueno. Seeded No. 1 among the men was Defending Champion Manuel Santana of Spain, and Aussie Roy Emerson was No. 2. Maybe it was an excess of patriotism (Americans were seeded Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 8) that caused the seeding committee to overlook two neighbors from Sydney, Australia, named Fred Stolle and John Newcombe. As it turned out, no U.S. player even survived the quarterfinals. Three times a runner-up at Wimbledon, twice winner of the U.S. Doubles, but still unseeded at Forest Hills, Stolle, 27, demolished Emerson, his own doubles partner, in one semifinal--by the almost incredible score of 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. In the other, unseeded John Newcombe, 22, aced Santana 16 times, and whipped the scrambling Spaniard, 6-3, 6-4, 6-8, 8-6.

"I hate to think how many times Fred Stolle and I have played each other," sighed Newcombe on the day of the finals. "Fred wins most of the big ones." But it was Newcombe who won the opening set, 6-4. The second set dragged on for 21 games without a service break--until the younger Aussie slipped and fell, injuring his right instep. Noticing that his opponent was favoring his right foot, Stolle began to bang away at the corners, forcing Newcombe to run. Stolle won the second set, ran out the third in only 13 min., and broke Newcombe's serve at the start of the fourth. Finally, chasing a Newcombe lob all the way to the base line, he uncorked a sizzling backhand for the final point and a 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

"It's time that Fred was a bride," said Australian Consul General Sir Reginald Sholl, as he congratulated both finalists. "He's been a bridesmaid so often." Countered Newcombe: "I'll be back next year to see if I can become --a groom."

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